פירוש על מעשרות 4:9

הכובש (press/pickle) – vegetables or olives with vinegar or with wine, and similarly who boils or salts, even in the field he is obligated [to tithe]. For the flame and the salt and the business transaction and the heave-offering and the Sabbath and the courtyard guard it, each one of these establishes [the liability] for tithing.

Introduction This mishnah deals with various steps that make, or in some cases do not make, produce liable for tithes.

המכמן באדמה (hide fruits in the ground) – he who stores away produce under the ground in the manner that they customarily hide fruit that are not ripened all their need in order that they can [fully] ripen.

If he pickled, stewed, or salted [produce], he is liable [to give tithes]. Cooking food always makes it liable for tithes. Our mishnah teaches that the same holds true for other ways of processing the produce, including pickling, stewing and even salting. Since these all serve to make raw food more edible, the person can now no longer eat from the produce without first tithing.

והמטבל (and one who seasons) – produce with salt or with brine or with vinegar and consumes it is exempt [from giving tithes], and it does not establish it [as liable] for tithing like one who pickles or salts, but rather, he eats from them an incidental meal/snack and is exempt from tithing.

If he stored [produce] in the ground [in order to warm it up] he is exempt. Sometimes people would store produce in the ground to warm it up a bit. The mishnah determines that this is not considered “cooking” and therefore he may continue to eat this food without first tithing it.

הפוצע זיתים – crushes and pounds hem in order that their vegetable sap/resin should depart, which is their bitterness.

If he dipped it [while yet] in the field, he is exempt. It was normal to eat food by dipping it, much in the way we might dip vegetables in an onion dip. Such eating is not necessarily part of a formal meal and therefore he may continue to eat the produce without tithing it.

הסוחט זיתים על בשרו – to rub his body.

If he split olives so that the bitter taste may come out of them, he is exempt. Splitting olives in order to take out some of the bitter taste does not count as processing the olives so he may continue to eat them without tithing.

לתוך ידו חייב – for what he put into his hand is considered as if he put it into a small pit, which is that pit that the wine and the oil descend into.

If he squeezed olives against his skin, he is exempt. Similarly, if he squeezes the olives against his skin to get out some oil which he wants to rub on his dry skin, this is not considered processing the olive in order to eat it and he can eat the olives without tithing.

המקפה לתבשיל (he skims [a ladle of wine for use] in a stew) – he draws refuse that the wine brings up at the time of its boiling is called pulp, and if after he placed the wine in the cooked dish , he removed from it the exterior husks and the interior pomace that float above, this is the incidental froth and does not establish [liability for] tithing like the rest of the froth of wine in general, and we are speaking regarding a cold cooked dish, for itf it was a boiling cooked dish, we would say that the flame established [the liability for tithing, and without the froth, it would be established [liable for] tithing , on account of he flame.

If he squeezed them and put [the oil] into his hand, he is liable. However, if he squeezes the olive in order to get oil out of it and put it in his hand so that he can eat the oil, he must tithe before he eats this oil. The key here is that he did something to the olive so that he could eat it, and he didn’t just take out the bitter taste or to put some oil on his skin, as was true in the previous sections.

לקדרה – an empty [pot], before that he put into it the cooked dish, he placed in it the wine and skimmed it, it wold be like he is skimming in a small pit and he is liable [for tithing].

One who makes a viscous liquid [from grapes or olives] in order to put it in a dish is exempt. When he makes this liquid (not yet considered wine or oil) and puts it in the dish which already has food in it, the liquid will disappear in the dish. Although he has put the liquid in food, it can still be eaten without tithing it.

But if to put it in an [empty] pot, he is liable for it is like a small vat. However, if he puts it in an empty pot, it is as if he put it in a vat to store it, thereby completing its processing. He now can no longer use the liquid without first tithing it.

תינוקות שטמנו תאנים – in the field, for if it were in the house, not on Shabbat, the house would establish it [for liability] for tithing. And it (i.e., the Mishnah) took [the word] “children/תינוקות “ to inform us that they have a recognized thought-pattern through their actions.

Introduction The entrance of Shabbat makes produce liable for tithes. Since Shabbat is important, any eating done on Shabbat is also significant and cannot be considered “chance eating” which is exempt from tithes. Our mishnah contains several issues related to this general rule.

לא יאכלו למוצ"ש – for since the Sabbath established them for [liability for] tithing, it is forbidden forever until they tithe.

Children who have hidden figs [in the field] for Shabbat and they forgot to tithe them, they must not be eaten after Shabbat until they have been tithed. The children hid the figs with the intention of eating them on Shabbat. The mishnah teaches that the figs that they set aside in order to eat on Shabbat have now become liable for tithes and cannot be eaten, even after Shabbat, without first being tithed. The important principle here is that intending to eat something on Shabbat makes it liable for tithes even if the person who had the intention was only a child. [I find this mishnah kind of cute, kids hiding figs to eat on Shabbat reminds me of hiding candy from the kids so that they won’t eat it on Shabbat].

כלכלת שבת – a basket filled with chosen fruits designated for use on Shabbat.

In the case of a basket of fruits for Shabbat: Bet Shammai exempt it from tithes; But Bet Hillel makes it liable. This basket was set aside so that the fruit would be eaten on Shabbat. Bet Shammai holds that setting the basket aside in order for it to be eaten on Shabbat does not make the fruit liable for tithes. As long as the fruit has not yet been brought into a place that makes it liable for tithes, one can continue to eat from it without tithing. Bet Hillel accords greater power to his intent and makes him liable for tithes as soon as he sets it aside for Shabbat.

וב"ה מחייבין – [to be liable for] tithing immediately, even prior to the sabbath, for since they were designated for the Sabbath, they were established [as liable for tithing] immediately.

Rabbi Judah says: even one who has gathered a basket of fruit to send as a present to his friend, must not eat of them, until they have been tithed. Rabbi Judah says that gathering fruit together into a basket in order to send it to a friend makes it liable for tithes, even if the basket was not meant for Shabbat. The idea is that making the food into a gift gives it importance, just as Shabbat does. Therefore, he cannot eat until he tithes.

לשלוח לחבירו – it was made iiable for setting aside of tithes immediately, and he may not eat an incidental meal until he tithes, and even if they had not been sent, because since he designated it to be sent, he is stringent upon it like with a basket designated for the Sabbath, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

המעטן (vat or pit where olives are packed until they form a viscid mass) – place where pile upolives in order that they are softened and appropriate to extract their oil.

Introduction Our mishnah deals with olives that were put into a vat in order to soften and prepare them for the pressing process.

טובל אחד אחד במלח – for it does not establish [as liable for tithing] other than with salt and in a combination of two, therefore, if he salted it and placed it before him, he is liable [for tithing].

One who took olives from a vat may dip them one at a time in salt, and eat them. Salting the olives one at a time and eating them without tithing is okay because this individual salting does not make them liable for tithes.

מן המעטן הטהור חייב – as, for example, that a person who takes them is ritually impure, for it is impossible for him to return the surplus, for all those that he has taken have become ritually defiled in his hand.

But if he salted them, and put them in front of him, he is liable [for tithes]. However, if he salts several olives which he took from the vat, then he can’t eat them without tithing. In other words, salting them together makes them liable for tithes.

מן הטמא פטור – for since the vat/pit where the olives are packed is all ritually impure [and the person] who takes them is ritually impure, he is return the surplus.

Rabbi Eliezer said: from a pure vat he is liable but from an impure [vat] he is exempt because can put back the leftovers. According to Rabbi Eliezer if the vat was pure he cannot eat the olives without tithing them. The reason for this is that these olives have become susceptible to impurities because they came into contact with the olive oil inside the vat. If the purity of the olives in the vat has been preserved then he won’t want to put the olives back because the olives that he touched may have become impure. Since he won’t want to put them back, that which he takes out is be liable for tithes. If, in contrast, the vat was not pure, then he can put the olives back. The olives that he took out are not considered to be gathered together and they can be eaten without tithing.

שותין על הגת – and as for example, when he brought his head and most of his body inside, for one cannot make a decree lest he bring the utensil to him and he drinks outside of the winepress.

Introduction Our mishnah deals with a person who wants to drink wine that he drew straight from the winepress.

One may drink [wine] out of the winepress, whether [it is mixed] with hot or cold water, and be exempt [from tithes], the words of Rabbi Meir. In mishnaic times it was customary to mix wine with water before it was drunk. Rabbi Meir rules that mixing wine drawn straight from the winepress with water does not make it liable for tithes, whether it was mixed with hot or cold water.

ר"א ב"ר צדוק מחייב – for he decreed lest he he take out from wine outside of the winepress.

Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok says he is liable. Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok holds that mixing wine does make it liable for tithes, even in a case where the wine was drawn straight from the winepress.

על החמין חייב – which establishes it [as liable for tithing], because e is not able to return the surplus for he has ruined the wine that is in the winepress, but if he poured with cold [wine], he exempt for he can return the surplus, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.

But the sages say: with hot water he is liable [to tithe] but with cold water, he is exempt. When he mixes the wine with warm water, he won’t pour any left over wine back into the press because that might cause the cool wine in the press to be spoiled. Since he won’t pour any back the sages consider its processing to have been completed and therefore, the wine is liable for tithes. If it was mixed with cold water he might put the left over wine back and hence he can drink it without tithing.

המקלף – he removes their husks.

One who husks barley may husk one at a time and eat [without tithing], but if he husked and put them into his hand, he is liable [to tithe]. Husking barley and eating the ears one at a time is considered “chance” eating and therefore one can do so without tithing. However, as soon as he husks the barley and puts several in his hand at the same time, their processing is considered to be completed and he can’t eat any of them without first tithing.

מקלף אחת אחת – one piece of barley and especially when he is not near the threshing floor/granary, but if he was near the threshing floor/granary, even if he peeled more, he is exempt [from liability for tithing] because he can return the surplus.

One who rubs [ears of] wheat may blow out [the chaff of the wheat] from hand to hand and eat, but if he blows and puts the grain in his lap he is liable. Rubbing ears of wheat is a means to remove the chaff from each ear of wheat. If one does so one ear of wheat at a time, he can eat the individual grains without tithing. However, as soon as he starts to accumulate the wheat in his lap, he is liable for tithes.

Coriander which was sown for the sake of the seed, the plant is exempt [from tithes]. If he sowed it for the sake of the plant then both the seed and the plant must be tithed. The mishnah now begins to discuss various types of plants whose seeds and plant parts are eaten. The part that needs to be tithed is the part that one intends on eating. If coriander (cilantro) was sown in order to eat the seeds then he needs to tithe only the seeds. He can eat the plant parts without tithing because when he sowed the plant, his intention was to throw these parts away. However, if he sows it in order to use the plant parts, then both these parts and the seeds must be tithed before they can be eaten. The assumption seems to be that in all cases one will make use of the coriander seeds because they are the more valuable part. When someone plants coriander in order to use the plant parts, he is really going to use the seeds as well.

מנפה [winnows] – to produce the chaff.

Rabbi Eliezer said: as for dill, tithe must be given from the seed and the plant, and the pods. According to Rabbi Eliezer, one needs to tithe all of the parts of a dill plant, because his intention will be to eat them all.

מיד ליד – he empties them from one hand to the other hand [and eats them without tithing].

But the sages say: only in the case of cress and eruca are both the seeds and plant tithed. The sages disagree with Rabbi Eliezer and with the rule at the end of section three. According to the sages one must tithe the seed and the plant parts of only two species of plant: cress and eruca. When it comes to other plants, either the seed or the plant part must be tithed, but not both.

ירקה פטור - for the seed is the essence and the herb (foliage/leaves) is not considered [important for tithing] unless he intended to use the herbs (foliage/leaves) [if they are to be eaten].

מתעשרת זרע וירק – he is liable to tithe whether he ate the seed or whether he ate the leaves, the foliage as they exist.

השבת (dill)– such is its name in Arabic and in the foreign tongue ANITO.

וזירים (pods) – vine-shoots, and even if he merely sowed, he tithes the seed, the herb {foliage/leaves) and the pods, because dills make long vine-shoots , but the coriander, one does no tithe the pods unless he sowed first for the pods.

השחלים (cress) – in Arabic HAB AT SHAR, and in the foreign tongue, KRISHON.

הגרגיר – this is its name in Arabic, and in the foreign tongue, IROGA, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.

התמרות של תלתן – there are those who explain it as sprouts of fenugreek, similar to what vines have and they are eaten. And there are those wo interpret that when the calyx/capsule of plants begins to grow, it appears in the place of its growth like a sort of thick berry, and it is called a fruit-like excrescence on leaves, berry as we state [Tractate Sukkah 33a] concerning the myrtle whose head is lopped off and an excrescence ascended upon it, and on fenugreek and mustard seed and white bean, they are considered food.

Rabban Gamaliel says: shoots of fenugreek, of mustard, and of white beans are liable [to tithe].
Rabbi Eliezer says: as for the caper bush, tithes must be given from the shoots, the berries and the blossoms.
Rabbi Akiba says: only the berries are tithed since they [alone] count as fruit.
In today’s mishnah Rabban Gamaliel, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiba debate which parts of various plants must be tithed. Again, the general principle is that whatever part one is going to preserve in order to eat is the part that is liable for tithes.
Section one: According to Rabban Gamaliel one will eat the shoots of these various plants; therefore they are liable for tithes.
Section two: Rabbi Eliezer holds that three parts of a caper bush must be tithed, because they all are eaten. Rabbi Akiva says that only the capers must be tithed because they are the most valuable part of the bush, the part that is primarily eaten.

הצלף (caper-bush/tree) – KAPRI – in the foreign language.

תמרות – the sprouts that are on it, and there are those who interpret, the flower.

האביונות (caper-tree/caper berry) – which is the essence of the fruit, and the flowers of the caper-bush which protect the fruit.

ר"ע וכו' – and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva.